Reciprocal teaching: Analyzing interactive dynamics in the co-construction of a text's meaning

ABSTRACT

Reciprocal teaching is one of the most successfully implemented cooperative learning practices, yet many aspects of the process it follows are still unclear. The authors' aim was two-fold: To analyze whether reciprocal teaching activates diversity in discourse moves, communicative functions, and interaction sequences; and to determine whether reciprocal teaching needs to be based on prior work on student collaboration and cooperation skills in order to be effective (context dependency vs. context independency). Two groups with a different instructional background were compared: one with a teacher-centered and one with a student-centered approach. Forty-three third-grade students were led through a reciprocal teaching reading activity. Video recordings of each group were transcribed and analyzed at the micro level. Frequencies for each category were described and interpreted. The two groups did not differ significantly in the processes followed, indicating that reciprocal teaching is context independent and able to create interaction-rich and diverse environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Cooperative learning
• discursive practices
• participation
• reading comprehension
• reciprocal teaching

Notes

1. The Gulpease index was elaborated by the GULP (Gruppo universitario linguistico pedagogico [University Linguistic and Pedagogic Group]) at the Phylosophy Institute (University of Rome “La Sapienza”). A Gulpease index goes from 0 (lowest readability, extremely difficult text) to 100 (highest readability, extremely easy text). The formula to obtain the index is: 89-LP/10+FR*3, with LP=letters*100/total_words and FR=sentences*100/total_words.